Reference no: EM132840434

Assignment 1.

This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a broader concern and that is, ‘What are some of the basics of organizational design?'

• What insight can you offer about the four main challenges facing designers of organizations?

• If the objective is to create an effectively designed organization need these four challenges be addressed at the same time?

• How are these four challenges related to each other?

• If a manager wished to design a mechanistic organization, what design choice would he or she face? Would these choices differ if an organic structure was the desired form?

• How might the ideas of contingency theory be described?

Hint:

When thinking about how to respond to these questions, frame them from the point of view of one type of organization such as a church, or professional service organization or a professional sports team, etc. It will simplify your responses.

Assignment 2.

This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a broader concern and that is, what are some of the current forms available to designers of organizations?

• Why is a functional structure the most common form of structure and what are some of the concerns associated with this form?

• Why do organizations make use of divisional structures and describe each type of divisional structure in three sentences.

• Please describe a network, a matrix and a product team structure and suggest some shortcomings for each.

• What are some of the challenges facing designers seeking to build effective organizational hierarchies?

• What is a bureaucracy and what are the advantages associated with its usage when designing an organizational hierarchy?

• Why are empowered organizational teams and flattened hierarchies becoming more prevalent in organizations?

Hint:

In this chapter, examples are offered that focus on the experiences of Union Pacific, General Mills, General Gypsum Company and EMI. Where applicable use ideas from these examples to build your responses to these questions.

Assignment 3.

This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a broader concern and that is, ‘How can an understanding of culture benefit managers of organizations?'

• How are an organization's values different from its norms?

• How might one describe the four foundations that explain cultural differences between organizations?

• How might an individual formally and informally learn an organization's culture?

• How can a manager influence the culture of an organization?

• What is the relationship between an organization's culture and the organizations outlook in terms of corporate social responsibility?

Hint:

When responding to these questions, pick one organization and use it as your frame of reference.

Assignment 4.

This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a broader concern and that is, how do technology and global pressure affect organizational design?

• Please distinguish between functional, business and corporate level strategies and summarize each in two or three sentences.

• Which organizational design problems are associated with each of the following global expansion strategy - multi domestic, international, global, and transnational?

• How might the relationship between technology and organizational effectiveness be summarized?

• How might the connection of specific technologies and organizational structures with organizational effectiveness be summarized?

• How is corporate culture affected by technology?

Hint:

When responding to the questions above that refer to technology, use the RIM Blackberry as the technology of interest.

Assignment 5.

This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a broader concern and that is, why is change so difficult to accomplish in organizations?

• What are the connections that link the concepts of organizational effectiveness, redesign and organizational change?

• How might the different forms of revolutionary and evolutionary change be defined?

• What are some of the challenges and obstacles faced by executives seeking to effectively manage change?

• What is organizational development (O.D.)?

• What are some of the O.D. techniques that can be used to pursue desired future organizational outcomes?

Hint:

When responding to the questions of this assignment, do keep in mind that the concepts of change noted in the chapter can apply to an organization that may take the form of a government or a local baseball league. Pick an example of an organization that you understand fairly well when thinking about your responses.

Assignment 6.

This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a broader concern and that is,

what is the role of growth and decline in an organization's life?

• What are some of the challenges that organizations must overcome if they are to grow beyond the organizational birth stage?

• In general what are some of the changes that should occur in an organization if is to prosper through growth?

• Why is decline a part of an organization's life cycle and what are the stages associated with decline?

• What are some of the actions that managers can take to avoid organizational decline?

Hint:

Nortel is an example of an organization that has experienced dramatic growth and then dramatic decline. Use the World Wide Web to research the history of Nortel. It offers an example that may be useful when responding to these questions.

Assignment 7.

This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a broader concern and that is, what is the role of decision making in organizations?

• Please identify and describe some of the perspectives that explain how managers make decisions.

• What is organizational learning and at what levels does it occur?

• How can managers use information technology and knowledge management processes to improve how organizations learn?

• Poor decision making and reduced organizational learning can result from factors such cognitive biases. What are these factors?

• What techniques can be used to enhance organizational learning and overcome organizational biases?

Hint:

When responding to the questions in this chapter, look to the ideas found in the examples from Microsoft, General Electric, and Telus to frame your answers.

Assignment 8.

This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a broader concern and that is, how can innovative or creative organizations be constructed?

• How do changes in technology affect innovation?

• In an organizational setting, what is the connection between creativity, intrapreneurship and innovation?

• What are some of the steps that can be taken by managers to help develop an organization rich in creativity and innovation?

• If a manager wished to speed innovation, foster creativity, and enhance product development in an organization, how might he or she make use of information technology?

Hint:

Once again, when responding to these questions you might want to consider using RIM's Blackberry as a technology or innovation upon which to frame your answers.

Assignment 9.

To undertake this assignment you will need to read Chapter 14.

This assignment seeks to help you understand the answer to a broader concern and that is, why are power and politics important in organizational life?

• Why does conflict exist in organizations, what forms does it take and from where does it originate?

• What is the role of politics in organizations and how does it play out in terms of decision making?

• How can power be used to overcome organizational inertia and improve performance?

Hint:

An interest case example that might be used as the basis for responding to these questions is George Bush and the neo-conservatives who ran the White House and pushed the U.S. in the Iraq war.